As is generally known, the clothes washing machines conventionally have a unique washing room defined by mobile basket arranged inside a fixed tank, wherein such mobile basket is usually perforated to allow drainage and spin of the clothes during the washing process.
In the more specific case of the clothes washing machines of vertical axis/upper opening, such mobile baskets are centrally coupled to the stirrer and provided, in the upper edge, of a hydro-balancer ring which keeps the equipment in balance even during the intense movements of centrifugation.
However, it occurs that the existence of only one washing room cause inconvenience to the user, since the white and/or very light clothes cannot be washed with colored clothes at risk of acquiring stains that prevent the their reuse, so that, no matter how small the load of clothes to be washed is, two complete washing cycles are needed to process all the material to be sanitized.
Due to this fact, solutions arose to create independent internal compartments and without fluid communication with the washing room defined by conventional perforated mobile basket, being such rooms therefore able to process the load of white and light-colored clothes while processing colored pieces, thus providing greater practicality and agility to the user. An example of this solution is shown in document U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,623, in which a small washing compartment is coupled to the upper end of the stirrer, but operating in such a way that the water processing the clothes inserted therein is unrelated to the washing water processing the common clothes arranged inside the main tank. However, the coupling to the upper end of the stirrer does not appear very suitable because in addition to keeping the additional washing room only partially arranged within the washing basket, it also has the disadvantage of requiring a higher torque to promote rotation of the stirrer, once it transfers to the stirrer all the weight of the clothes load existing in the inside thereof. Furthermore, mainly during the centrifugation step, both the stirrer and the small washing compartment undergo a very large moment, so that friction between the parts may occur and thus cause wear of the stirrer as well as damage to the axis thereof.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,231 also discloses the use of an additional washing basket coupled to the stirrer axis, thus incurring the same drawback described in the preceding paragraph.
Analogous solution is presented in document U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,230, which describes a clothes washing machine capable of working with a conventional washing basket (and its respective storage system of water) or a miniature washing basket, which also provides for its own storage tank of water and recirculation system thus disclosing a complex and consequently expensive construction.
Another solution also related to the subject drawbacks is described in document U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,020, which discloses a clothes washing machine integrated by a large washing basket and a small washing basket, both centrally arranged relative to the stirrer axis, wherein the small washing basket is linked to the hydro-balancer ring of the wide washing basket by means of a flange. Thus, it is a solution that requires the use of additional components—in the case, said flange—to provide coupling and fluid seal between the baskets, so that if it occurs a problem in this flange or a possible inappropriate coupling by the user, the fluid communication may occur between the baskets and thus cause stains in the light-colored clothes and inconveniences to the user.
It is noted, therefore, that the current state of the art lacks solutions allowing a safe, efficient and practical coupling of an additional washing basket and fluidly independent with the conventional washing basket of the clothes washing machines of the current state of the art.